All Out Kids?

Why in the world would you start a kids gear store?

Great question! Sometimes I wonder myself. Well let me see, yes I remember now. It all started six years ago, like a lot of life changing events, with the birth of my son, and continued two years later with the birth of my beautiful daughter.

Probably not too different from most outdoor people I said " I am not changing a thing, I am going to continue everything exactly the way I do it now!". I think I had delusions of ice climbing WI4 routes with a child carrier, or stuffing my little extreme baby into the front of my sprayskirt as I run class 4 rapids. Well no, not quite that adventurous! I had the notion, (some may agree, some may not) that if I wanted to go on an all day hike, or paddle all day long I could do it the same way as I had always done it, and yes some people keep doing it that way.

But... babies need naps, food, and bottles, their diapers changed and to be held and cuddled etc..

In my experience the baby is the first one to feel the discomfort of a missed nap. Then, shortly after, everyone feels the discomfort of an over tired little one. So, we modified and tried to do the best we could following napping and feeding schedules and such. It may have been different, but it was also great! Watching a brand new explorer, grow and discover new things. Even something as simple as crawling through grass for the first time was a joy! As we travelled on this growing adventure we realized there was certain gear that really helped. There were good clothes that were needed to stay warm and dry, and all these things made everyone much more content and happy to be outside.

So, the search began. We found the big box department stores gear didn't stand up to all day adventures, and quality gear seemed harder to find then it should be. After all, there were a lot of families trying to show the wonderful world of the outdoors to their young children. We spent endless hours tracking down gear and clothing that worked. Ordering something from this company, and something from another company, stumbling onto unique little companies that offered stuff out of the main stream, but not finding one spot that had a wide variety of good quality items. After mumbling to myself how it would be nice to go to one spot and have access to different items, we finally made the decision to try it ourselves.

Alloutkids.com was born. We are starting fairly small, but hope to grow quickly and continue to add brands as fast as we can, to provide a wide selection under one roof. We are parents ourselves and use a lot of this gear almost on a daily basis and have tried and tested most of it. We want to be able to offer it to other young outdoor families and maybe inspire others, that may not have been quite as adventurous. If you have suggestions, new ideas, or if we have made an error along the way please let us know!